In his book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell defines the monomyth as that single "consciously controlled pattern most widely exhibited in the world's folk tales, myths, and religious fables" (255-56). Mono, as you know, meaning one: one myth for all of humankind. It is a pattern that can be applied over and over to stories from simple children’s books to tomes of the Ramayana, the Bible, the Koran. While it is a widely accepted theory, it is not without its contentions, for any number of reasons. There is no doubt Joseph Campbell was a brilliant scholar, and I admire his work and utilize it in my classes a great deal. He was and remains posthumusly one of the leading scholars in mytholgy. At the same time, he will have his perspectives shaped by his own culture, his own beliefs, his own design on what he would want to see and want others to see, so in that way, we must remember that his is only one theory, one way of analyzing and looking at the literature.
To that end, rather than having this class purchase and read the whole text, or even spend the money on the text only to read a few pages on the theory, I have instead found some web sites I feel provide a solid framework for understanding the monomyth theory and hold true to Campbell’s perspective. Certainly if you like this work, there is a great deal more to be read from Campbell, and I encourage you to look into his other books as well as video series. He did a fantastic set of interviews with Bill Moyers on the George Lucas ranch (Lucas was a great admirer of Campbell and heavily influenced by him in his creation of Star Wars) as well as a much more in depth academic lecture/discussion series. Monomyth Reading Assignment
1. Connect to the Wikipedia web site and read the initial page of information about monomyth. Looking at the “Criticisms” at the bottom of the entry itself will give you a couple of good alternative perspectives to help you understand what some see as the limitation of Campbell’s theory.
2. Visit the History Through Literature: The Hero’s Journey web site. Here you will find an interactive monomyth circle that explores the monomyth (it actually goes counter-clockwise [left to right] as opposed to clockwise [right to left]). This interactive image will help to create a common vocabulary we can share in our class.
3. Back on the History Through Literature site map, there is a link to “Print Journey Stages” which allows you to get a PDF copy for yourself. Use this as your guide for drafting and writing your own monomyth. Monomyth Writing Assignment: Create Your Own Monomyth
I in no way mean to belittle the monomyth theory with this exercise. Rather, I think it can be fun or very serious, depending on your approach to it, and at the same time, you can really see how the monomyth can be applied to numerous “life journeys” that each of us encounter. How is it something we have lived through could be looked back upon as a hero’s journey? Think about it in terms of creating a myth from your own life!
The time of your life can be anything that you can clearly break into stages. It can be something that took months or years to complete (like taking a difficult class or raising a child), or it can be something that happened in a matter of minutes (like how you plotted to and successfully beat your sister to the bathroom in the morning). Looking back on it now, you can analyze and build up all the surrounding events of the before and after. Joseph Campbell says we all go through a Hero’s Journey, just in our very own births. Think of that (ahhh, but now you can’t use it!). Come up with something, serious or fun, embellish it a bit, or keep it true to life. Just try it, and I think you’ll be surprised at how it gets you looking at life events from the monomyth perspective.
NOTE: You MUST choose a journey which is completed at this time. DO NOT pick something that has not come to a conclusion or is still not resolved enough to complete the the final stages of the cycle. So if those divorce papers aren't signed yet, or if you haven't yet put on the cap and gown and gotten the diploma in your hand and had some time to reflect on the experience - DO NOT write about it.
Below is an example paper of the monomyth. Please do not feel you have to write about the same subject matter (and unless you've gotten a masters degree in English, I don't think you can!), but do follow this same form, using the headers to clearly distinguish each element of your monomyth. For some areas you will have more to say, and for others, less. Can you have some areas with none at all? I would have to say no unless you can show me how that works effectively! Sample Paper
Monomyth Student Site
Best I can tell, this site was created by a graduate student in a counseling psych program. What I like about it is how he has included images for each of the stages from X-Men and Star Wars. Those of you familiar with those stories will appreciate having some contemporary visuals that might help you put the stages of the theory into a practical context.
In his book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell defines the monomyth as that single "consciously controlled pattern most widely exhibited in the world's folk tales, myths, and religious fables" (255-56). Mono, as you know, meaning one: one myth for all of humankind. It is a pattern that can be applied over and over to stories from simple children’s books to tomes of the Ramayana, the Bible, the Koran. While it is a widely accepted theory, it is not without its contentions, for any number of reasons. There is no doubt Joseph Campbell was a brilliant scholar, and I admire his work and utilize it in my classes a great deal. He was and remains posthumusly one of the leading scholars in mytholgy. At the same time, he will have his perspectives shaped by his own culture, his own beliefs, his own design on what he would want to see and want others to see, so in that way, we must remember that his is only one theory, one way of analyzing and looking at the literature.
To that end, rather than having this class purchase and read the whole text, or even spend the money on the text only to read a few pages on the theory, I have instead found some web sites I feel provide a solid framework for understanding the monomyth theory and hold true to Campbell’s perspective. Certainly if you like this work, there is a great deal more to be read from Campbell, and I encourage you to look into his other books as well as video series. He did a fantastic set of interviews with Bill Moyers on the George Lucas ranch (Lucas was a great admirer of Campbell and heavily influenced by him in his creation of Star Wars) as well as a much more in depth academic lecture/discussion series.
Monomyth Reading Assignment
1. Connect to the Wikipedia web site and read the initial page of information about monomyth. Looking at the “Criticisms” at the bottom of the entry itself will give you a couple of good alternative perspectives to help you understand what some see as the limitation of Campbell’s theory.
2. Visit the History Through Literature: The Hero’s Journey web site. Here you will find an interactive monomyth circle that explores the monomyth (it actually goes counter-clockwise [left to right] as opposed to clockwise [right to left]). This interactive image will help to create a common vocabulary we can share in our class.
3. Back on the History Through Literature site map, there is a link to “Print Journey Stages” which allows you to get a PDF copy for yourself. Use this as your guide for drafting and writing your own monomyth.
Monomyth Writing Assignment: Create Your Own Monomyth
I in no way mean to belittle the monomyth theory with this exercise. Rather, I think it can be fun or very serious, depending on your approach to it, and at the same time, you can really see how the monomyth can be applied to numerous “life journeys” that each of us encounter. How is it something we have lived through could be looked back upon as a hero’s journey? Think about it in terms of creating a myth from your own life!
The time of your life can be anything that you can clearly break into stages. It can be something that took months or years to complete (like taking a difficult class or raising a child), or it can be something that happened in a matter of minutes (like how you plotted to and successfully beat your sister to the bathroom in the morning). Looking back on it now, you can analyze and build up all the surrounding events of the before and after. Joseph Campbell says we all go through a Hero’s Journey, just in our very own births. Think of that (ahhh, but now you can’t use it!). Come up with something, serious or fun, embellish it a bit, or keep it true to life. Just try it, and I think you’ll be surprised at how it gets you looking at life events from the monomyth perspective.
NOTE: You MUST choose a journey which is completed at this time. DO NOT pick something that has not come to a conclusion or is still not resolved enough to complete the the final stages of the cycle. So if those divorce papers aren't signed yet, or if you haven't yet put on the cap and gown and gotten the diploma in your hand and had some time to reflect on the experience - DO NOT write about it.
Below is an example paper of the monomyth. Please do not feel you have to write about the same subject matter (and unless you've gotten a masters degree in English, I don't think you can!), but do follow this same form, using the headers to clearly distinguish each element of your monomyth. For some areas you will have more to say, and for others, less. Can you have some areas with none at all? I would have to say no unless you can show me how that works effectively!
Sample Paper
Example Monomyth Paper
Additional Links and Information About Monomyth
Monomyth Student Site
Best I can tell, this site was created by a graduate student in a counseling psych program. What I like about it is how he has included images for each of the stages from X-Men and Star Wars. Those of you familiar with those stories will appreciate having some contemporary visuals that might help you put the stages of the theory into a practical context.